Received: from smtpgate.uvm.edu (smtpgate.uvm.edu [132.198.101.121]) by csf.Colorado.EDU (8.8.4/8.8.4/CNS-4.1p-nh) with SMTP id FAA09241 for ; Wed, 29 Oct 1997 05:14:56 -0700 (MST) Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 05:14:56 -0700 (MST) Received: from T. (207.123.169.156) by smtpgate.uvm.edu (LSMTP for Windows NT v1.1a) with SMTP id <0.59D468A0@smtpgate.uvm.edu>; Wed, 29 Oct 1997 7:14:52 -0500 Message-Id: <1.5.4.16.19971029071420.2c679f60@pop.uvm.edu> X-Sender: tryoung@pop.uvm.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: TEACHSOC@poplar.lemoyne.edu From: TR Young Subject: Gettin' your students to talk: some ideas Cc: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu It is not hard to get students to talk; you will note that, more often than not, when you walk into class there is a dull roar of students busily talking to each other...then, you cough, click, smile or simply stand still looking at the class and the roar becomes a whisper....students tune in and turn down the volume. The structure of expert authority in a stratified institution becomes the major organizing definition of the situation...while personal/ private communication becomes a disorganizing deviancy... ....so Getting students to talk is easy; getting them to talk about things sociological is another thing. C.W.Mills is our mentor here...the task is to get them to talk about things using a sociological imagination...there are two related problems: 1. Finding something to interest students and... 2. Finding an institutional way/opportunity to talk about such thing sociologically. A. Student interests: There are at least four things about which students talk and will listen: 1. sex, love, lust and sex 2. sports, games, play and just pretend 3. religion/morality; good and evil 4. crime, deviancy, revenge and justice There are many concepts in any given sociological course with which to help students gain insight and understanding about such topics... B. Opportunities...there are many ways to link concept with central concerns... 1. term papers 2. field assignments 3. class presentations 4. research projects 5. lectures are, arguably, the worst way to link topics and sociology...but they can help. C. Political tools...every teacher has a range of political tools with which s/he can foster the linking of 1-4 above with 1-4 below. 1. Institutional authority...the status role of the teacher offers a gloss of legitimacy for doing creative things to link the above and the below. Authority will work for most much of the time...but it can be lost/ wasted/subverted by those who try to turn the learning situation into some personal advantage. 2. Personal Esteem...after a few days/meetings, most teachers will find that students relate to them as an us...some bonding will take place; more if the teacher is engaging. 3. Grades...grades are a powerful tool...one can link above and below with points toward a 'good' grade...I use a point menu in which students can earn more points toward an 'A' or 'B' by doing things; fewer points by taking tests. Usually, students earn twice as many points for illuminating a concept in the doing than in the testing. 4. Curiousity...one must not underestimate the curiousity of students about life in general and the social structure of their life in particular. Field assignments which ask the student to analyse their own work, church, bar, class, romantic/familial engagments are a natural source of data with which to illuminate the sociology of it all. 5. Problems...all students have one, two or three continuing problems which could serve as lever toward a sociological imagination. One must take care; one can do much damage...intervention into the private life of a student requires tact and gentle wisdom. 6. Current Events: every major event serves as opportunity to develop a sociological imagination... The death of a Princess, the bombing of a building, the collapse of a stock market offers opportunity to promote a sociological imagination... This mean that one must get up early to write a mini-lecture on the event of the day...or, alternatively, subscribe to PSN, AHS, SOC_CLASS or TEACHSOC...and check out what others have to say about the event at hand. 7. Current Cultural Events...every university brings in movies, artists, poets, writers, speakers, and pundits...with a little preparation, field assignments can be created giving students opportunity to use their soc concepts to critique/explicate the event at hand. 8. Local scandal...every university and university community has its share of scandal...sports scandals and various forms of white collar crime abound in university and its environs... One must be careful...some teachers use sensationalism rather than sensible analysis to discuss such events...the sociology of it all has to be upfront and personal outrage channeled/harnessed to the task of teaching and learning. Every good teacher could add a dozen tactics to these...for those who are just beginning to teach, these may be of some help in generating a sociological imagination. TR Young The Red Feather Institute 8085 Essex, Weidman, Mi., 48893--ph: [517] 644 3089 Email: tr@tryoung.com TR.Young@uvm.edu